Quack_Quotes

Dangerous Risks Aside (Photo credit: epSos.de ) Whether we like it or not, we are taking risks every day. Crossing the street is risky. Actuarial scientists will say the risks vary. Poker players will say the odd are even in life. They are both right but it's still risky. So if you accept that you are always taking risks, why not take risks to succeed. Failure is always an option but it's failure only if you don't get up and try again. This quotes is the familiar form of stating things one way and pointing out the opposite which shares the same truths.

Reality smells (Photo credit: Eric.Parker ) Either you stepped in shit or you're somewhere where it's all around you. Either way,  you had something to do with it or getting there. You either walked around oblivious to the things you stepped on.  Confident that whatever it is,  it's not important and won't affect you in any way. Guess what, you've just proved yourself wrong. Or you brought yourself or made your way somewhere where it's shit everywhere. Whether you meant to do so or thought you'd never get to the place where shit is everywhere, what matters is what you do now to get out shit and whether you will learn anything from it. Either way,  it's you and something you did.  Deal with it.

(Photo credit: robotbrainz ) In the ever so loud exclamation of everything must be positive to be positive, it is often forgotten that there will be times when we will fall and there will be times when the wall is simply too high to scale. Rather than try endlessly, why not turn to a friend or for help. Now what ever limits us is fewer. The limits are now that is common to two people. Some people will say that we can achieve success on our own. The next time they try to use a bridge, tell them to find a way across without it because that bridge is someone's helping hand.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) That is what a someone who puts quality over quantity will see. A capitalist will consider how much is the value of the liquid to others in the same room, the value of it somewhere else, the cost of moving the glass there, whether he can make the people in the room compete with the people over there to drive up the value and whether he can sell it to both of them and get away with keeping the glass.

English: Book of Knowledge (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) An improvement on a previous quote . The opposite of the above is condescension. Which just pushed to the fore the person you are rather than the knowledge you posses. Also begs the question of why is it you want to share: pride, prominence or ...

Paparazzi (Photo credit: Todd Huffman ) Nothing changes a person than giving them a camera.  Put any nice guy behind one and they become an inconsiderate jerk.  Especially when there are children involved. They stand in front of you, at events, everywhere, thinking that they have more right than you because they are capturing that moment for posterity. To these people, I say, "Live life but live it in front of the camera."   I really like quotes with the "contrary to popular belief" structure because it's fairly simple to construct an interesting quote. Not necessarily memorable but definitely easy. Just juxtapose an object against an adjective it's not normally associated with. A good one maximizes the distance between the two.

Historians will debate as to whom really wore the pants / signed the checks / stamped the President's seal.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) And I mean that in several ways. In the literal way is that those smart people who you hired will just gang up and go against you. In another way, the smart workers will just start finding ways to make their decisions seem to you like they were yours. You make the decisions, feel smart and take all the responsibility. Originally, this thought stream came out when I read an article published in the early weeks of George W. Bush's presidency, pre-9-11. The article defended his academic record and dubious achievements outside of politics. It assured that despite of his history, George W. Bush redeemed himself by surrounding himself with smart people. They were supposed to do his bidding, provide him ideas but at the end, the decision would always be his. I thought it was an accident waiting to happen. Turns out I really didn't have ...

Advertising advertising (Photo credit: Toban B. ) ... Only one is worth reprinting all the time. ...  Only one is guaranteed to attract attention. ...  With facts, the discussion get pretty boring quickly. ... nothing attracts heated words like one of them

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Sympathy vs Empathy. The distinction between both is either razor thin or gulf wide, depending on which side you stand on. From Sympathy's side, empathy looks like a step away, two sides of the same coin. Because from Sympathy, all that can be seen are the similarities. Sympathy wants to be on the same side. Sympathy feels that same. From Empathy's side, Sympathy is an ocean away. The similarities can be seen from Empathy but they can't and won't be reached. Empathy has the burden of doing what is necessary, what is right. It knows the hurt now but always compares that with the pain to come if what is right is not done. It's not without emotion but can only make the landing softer from the fall. Related articles Apathy for Empathy Friendship and empathy blurred lines of sympathy & empathy The Word: Empathy Empathy

_blame. (Photo credit: bass_nroll ) .. so why not use that to your advantage. Blame is only useful if used positively, like to solve a problem or prevent one from happening again. Or to change one's attitude through repentance. It's a form of time. Blame found too early can shift the focus away from solving the problem. Too late and it'll  be just that: too late. Therein lies the answer. If you find the blame too early, use the information from it to solve the problem. Find it too late, make sure the people to blame can't make the same mistake again. Related articles Blame is timeless. It can be done any time. Cyber-bullying: Why we're all to blame Our own uptightness: lame blame = government, food, motorcars, yadda, yadda, yadda... The "Scale of Accountability" Again

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Life is full of trouble. Once you've accept this, it'll be much easier dealing with life. Life is definitely not like the TV. Everything does not always work out alright in the end. Everyone doesn't get what they deserve. People are not always the same every day. Tomorrow will be different than today. The story ends at the top of the hour. But Life goes on. Oddly enough, I thought of this when preparing to give a talk on how important planning is. It would be a given that planning is a good thing but in reality most people don't know how.Worse of all most people think that the opposite of planning is excitement. They end up living by the seat of their pants. Which could be good for them but not for the people around them. Spontaneity is ok to start with. It may point to a direction. You may even know where you want to go. So prepare for the journey and to learn from it.

Sharing (Photo credit: courosa ) Some people demand respect before they will share thier knowledge. I learn all the time and I respect others by default. That makes it easier for me to constantly learn But you will loose that respect the moment you don't recognize that I'd given you respect and instead demand of it regardless whether it has been given or not. From you, i don't think there is much useful to learn.

Entertaining Boo 276/365 (Photo credit: @Dave ) We can prepare by amassing quantities of stuff. These things, ideas, notions, repartee.. whatever. We keep them with the hopes of using them one day. Sometimes we limit ourselves to situations that we know that what we have prepared will be of use. But why limit ourselves that way. When we learn to use what we have or what we have around us, we free ourselves. When you can use what ever you have to, it makes us prepared for all situations.

English: Two persons shaking hand (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I never really understood 'gentlemen's agreement'. It assumes that both parties will act gentlemanly, honoring an unwritten pact. This is bound to fail because as human beings, we are subject to change and will change eventually. That change will make one party realize the advantage of not continuing to honor the agreement. Add to that the idea that going back against something that is unwritten is much like going against nothing at all and you have a recipe for failure.

English: child (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Children are a pure source of joy. Yet the faster the world moves, the more often they are overlooked. Take some time out for your child because time is the most precious gift you can give.

Fire Sparks (Photo credit: Kirrus ) ... It's what the spark gets used for that matters. Great ideas come to more people than you think. Most of us don't want to get off the couch.

The caveat to the promise. A reminder that all things come at their time. 

44581 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Can be looked at in two ways. Pessimistic. Life will always have disappointments. Expecting it means that when it comes, it won't be a surprise. Optimistic. Life will always have disappointments. Why wallow in them when you know it will get better?

 (Photo credit: quinn.anya ) Solutions only come around once. It's is an opportunity that is realized, taken advantage of and made real. So solutions are a combination of effort and opportunity. No amount of effort can solve a problem if it's time hasn't come. And no amount of effort can solve a problem if the opportunity to solve it has passed. You can only solve it on the next one. That is why there also solutions who time hasn't come. They solve things that have not become problems yet.

Landscape from Assam (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This reminds me of an Arabic saying " All of life there are only two days, a day for you and a day against you ". Which means that things either work out for us or it doesn't. Which is seems obvious except that most people think that every day is for them, that things will always work out. The proverb then goes into many directions, many ways that it continues. One version goes " When time is for you, be thankful and when it is against you, have patience ". Sometimes, the next verse is specific to the recipient, a reminder of sorts. It sort of has resonance with the whole Buddhist "life is like a wheel" concept, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down.

Problems happens all the time. We spend a lot energy on it. The thing is, we are the one who decide whether we chose to spend that energy being angry or looking for a solution. 

People have these ideas and they hold on to them hard. They will fight reason and logic just to keep holding on to them. The value of the idea to them is more important than the idea itself. But ideas have a strange way of working. Sometimes, the same idea in two different hands, yield two different things. So this idea comes about that perhaps our ideas may not serve us best. Perhaps our ideas, when shared, in the hands of others, will bring forth things that we don't even expect. So let go of your ideas when there is simply too much to not let it go. Because when you do, it makes you ready to accept the next idea that comes by.

..because they've reached the conclusion and just waiting for you to do the same. Contemplation (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The value of knowledge is being cleverly subverted. While knowledge is put on a pedestal, the sweet talkers and smooth operators are glorified more. The choice is not always between speaking out even when unsure versus keeping quiet and letting others convince everyone else that the water is nicer over the cliff. It's also choosing when to impart knowledge at it's most useful point in time: when people are ready to accept it.

This is  the start of a series of older quotes from an earlier part of my life. I found a cache of quotes from a long-forgotten, pre-blog era. I'm labeling them 'Old Quotes' This is the first of my long list of struggles trying to make sense of this world. People almost never mean what they say, or worse never say anything at all but then just create in their minds what your reactions will be and react to that. How can you defend yourself against what people who make up what they think you'll say? You didn't say it and you didn't even think of it in the first place. But that is their perception. Do you deal with that? Or can you choose to not deal with them at all? 

It's easy to confuse a strong belief in a dream with the over-confidence that the dream can be achieved. We can make dreams come true. But more often than not, we need to work for them. This means planning, preparation, perseverance and positivity in good measure, not too much nor too little. Cockiness - Overly self-assertive or self-confident Halfcocked - Inadequate or poorly prepared

I heard this from someone. It sounded inane until I thought about it. All the people I know who spend time cleaning, cleaning their homes or cars or space at the office, complain about not enough time. Not enough time to clean more I guess.. People who like cleanliness tend to find more things to clean. I don't know why really. There is always something to clean. Like there is always something to complain about. In a way, it's even worse than the glass-half-empty people because these people want to throw out the water in the glass and clean it. And then keep it. Making that other person a there-is- no-glass-left kind of person. But be thankful for people who are always looking for something to clean. Their OCD is our gain. And there is almost no end in things to clean.

Was "the more I talk,  the more my words becomes my actions". Although what we say may be carried further than our actions, what we do is our stronger legacy. Abraham Lincoln was known for the Emancipation Proclamation but his legacy is the freeing of the slaves.  But I am not trying to diminish the speech. He was not the first leader to free slaves but he was the most famous.